The Secrets Of Tom Holland's Undercover High School Research For Spider-Man

The secrets behind Tom Holland's undercover high school adventures have been revealed. One of the big reasons fans were drawn to the newest version of Peter Parker when he appeared in Captain America: Civil War was his youth. Obviously actor Tom Holland was still a teenager when he filmed Civil War, much like Peter Parker when he became Spider-Man in the comic books, but before filming Spider-Man: Homecoming Marvel decided to have the young actor do a bit of research and go to high school.

In spite of the American accent Holland uses in the Marvel movies, he is actually British. The school he attended in England was an all-boys school where they wore jackets and ties, so Marvel felt that it was important for Holland to experience something more akin to Peter Parker's; ideally, a magnet school for math and science, one located in New York City like the Academy in the movie. They elected The Bronx High School of Science, which also happens to be where Spider-Man: Homecoming co-star Jon Favreau went as a teenager.

Business Insider has revealed some secrets from Holland's two-day experience in the school, courtesy of an interview with STEM student Arun Bishop, who served as the actor's partner. The ruse happened in February of 2016, just a few months before Civil War was released and made Holland's face one of the most recognizable in the world.

Bishop revealed they were nearly caught right away when they scanned Holland's fake ID - really just a copy of Bishop's with Holland's picture on it. They were forced to explain the truth to security after Holland swiped the card and accidentally set off an alarm. Once security was looped in on the secret, Holland had the chance to see what a genius like Bishop - and Peter Parker - studies. Indeed, Bishop knew that the tough curriculum might be a struggle for Holland to follow along with: "I felt a little bad for him, having to go through my entire schedule. If you don't know what's going on, those 40-minute classes must be boring."

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Holland made it through a day on Bishop's intensive schedule - Advanced Placement physics; linear algebra and differential equations; experimental engineering; AP calculus AB; AP English literature; and AP microeconomics. While he couldn't really understand the work, Holland observed the students. He was amused at the co-ed classes and when anyone asked about him, he and Bishop told them that Holland was Bishop's cousin Ben - possibly named for Peter Parker's late Uncle.

By day two, Holland was pretty bored and decided to amuse himself by telling people the truth - he's the new Spider-Man. The story of him attending the school was too far-fetched for most students to believe, however. He did finally manage to convince a couple of girls, but only once they Googled him. During lunch on the second day, Bishop filmed Holland interviewing other students about Marvel films.

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After two days, Holland left the school to begin filming, and Bishop resumed his regular life. He is now in his sophomore year at the University of Michigan, majoring in mechanical engineering and minoring in computer science so that he can work in robotics. And now that Spider-Man: Homecomingis in theaters, also occasionally bragging about the role he played in helping prepare Tom Holland for the film.